CVE-2017-6253
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedNVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer (nvlddmkm.sys) handler for DxgkDdiEscape where the size of an input buffer is not validated which may lead to denial of service or potential escalation of privileges
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver's kernel-mode layer (nvlddmkm.sys) fails to validate the size of an input buffer in its DxgkDdiEscape handler. This buffer size validation flaw allows a local attacker to trigger a denial of service or potentially achieve privilege escalation by supplying a malformed buffer to the vulnerable escape function.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm NVIDIA GPU driver is installedOpen Device Manager, expand 'Display adapters', and look for any NVIDIA GPU entry. Alternatively, check for the presence of C:\Windows\System32\nvlddmkm.sys on the system.Affected if No NVIDIA GPU device or nvlddmkm.sys file is found, the system is not affected by this specific vulnerability.
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Identify the NVIDIA driver versionIn Device Manager, right-click the NVIDIA GPU, select Properties, go to the Driver tab, and note the Driver Version string. Alternatively, right-click nvlddmkm.sys in System32, select Properties, and check the File Version.Affected if The driver version field is populated - this indicates the vulnerable component is present.
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Verify kernel-mode driver presenceOpen an elevated command prompt and run: driverquery /v | findstr nvlddmkm. This displays the nvlddmkmkm driver if loaded.Affected if The nvlddmkm driver is listed as loaded, the vulnerable DxgkDdiEscape handler is active.
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Assess local access exposureReview which user accounts have logon rights to the system. Check Local Users and Groups (lusrmgr.msc) or run 'query user' to see who is currently logged on.Affected if Untrusted or non-administrative users have local access to the system, they could potentially exploit this privilege escalation vulnerability.
If an NVIDIA GPU driver with the nvlddmkm.sys kernel component is installed on the system, the system is likely affected since all versions are within the scope of this CVE.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply the NVIDIA security update that addresses the buffer size validation issue in the display driver kernel-mode handler. Prioritize patching systems where untrusted users have local access, given the privilege escalation potential.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-6253 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-6253 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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